BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
As you might have worked out by now, green is one of the colours that are currently en vogue with watches, although, if you were at Watches & Wonders Geneva this year you wouldn’t have thought that given the lack of green in most areas. IWC, however, has not forgotten to give this new watch the verdant treatment, and the new Pilot Chronograph looks all the better for it.
Green and gold are colours not often seen together outside of a Rolex boutique, perhaps that’s the only reason we don’t see this combination in watches very often. Well, IWC clearly says “nuts to that!” with the latest piece. While you might associate pilot’s watches with huge diameters, the newest piece measures at a positively microscopic 41mm x 14.5mm.
As you’d expect, the dial is taken up by large hands and markers, showing that this is still a fully functional piece despite being made of rose gold. This is something I particularly love with manufacturers like IWC, they take their more ordinary tool watches and make them in precious metals but keep the functionality if you need it. The dial features gold hands with SuperLumiNova, and SuperLumiNova markings too. I do wish that they colour-matched the day and date windows with the green of the dial, though.
Visible through the caseback and powering that dial is the self-winding calibre 69385, which is itself based on the in-house 69370 movement introduced in 2016. The 69385 has a 46-hour power reserve if the chronograph isn’t running. Speaking of, that chronograph uses a column wheel to control things, which makes the action of starting and stopping the chronograph smoother and judder free.
The watch is presented with a green rubber clasp from new, but comes with IWC’s EasX-CHANGE quick-change strap system, allowing a new strap of any material and colour to be swapped in quickly. Thankfully, this watch isn’t a limited edition piece, and is available online, in boutiques and authorised dealers for the price of $20,900 before tax.
